How to Make a Homemade Compost Accelerator

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How to Make a Homemade Compost Accelerator

Overview

Hot composting is an accelerated process that creates an ideal environment for microbes to speed up the process of breaking down organic material. The process of hot composting can take up to 6 months, but you can accelerate the process by giving your compost a compost accelerator. Compost accelerators help kick-start the microbes into consuming the organic material in your compost bin.

Step 1

Shred all leaves, grass clippings, newspaper, clover and dry compost with a lawn mower or garden shears to give the microbes more surfaces to eat at a time. Shredding compost can help speed the decomposition process it without the use of chemicals.

Step 2

Add more nitrogen-rich organic material, such as grass clippings, urine or clover to your garden to boost the activity of microbes. Microbes will consume nitrogen rich green organic material faster than they will carbon-filled brown organic material such as shredded leaves.

Step 3

Place a handful of garden soil or finished compost into to your new compost pile to start the composting process. Garden soil and finished compost both contain microbes that help to break down the compost. Adding soil will add the microbes to activate the process of composting.

Step 4

Turn your compost frequently with a garden fork to speed up the activity of the microbes. This helps to distribute them more completely throughout the compost pile and help them find the undigested organic material to work on.

Step 5

Control the pH of your compost by adding urine or Lyme when you turn your compost. Microbes are most active when compost is in the neutral ranges between 6.0 and 8.0. To raise the pH of your compost, add lime. To lower it, add animal urine (sold at many garden stores) or other nitrogen-rich substances.

Things You'll Need

Lawn mower

Garden shears

Green organic material such as clover or grass clippings

Soil or mature compost

Lime

Urine

Garden fork

References

Homemade Compost Problems

Composting

Soil Microbiology FAQ

Who Can Help

Homemade Compost Activator

Liming and pH

Keywords:
compost accelerator, soil microbes, organic material

About this Author

After 10 years experience in writing, Tracy S. Morris has countless articles and two novels to her credit. Her work has appeared in national magazines and newspapers, including "Ferrets" and "CatFancy," as well as the "Lexington Herald Leader" and "The Tulsa World," and several websites.